As you recover from the hedonism of the holidays, we have the great pleasure of bringing you the work of the talented Samuel Eyles. His large, stunningly grotesque paintings delve into the raw emotional states of his often caricaturesque subjects, and have titles such as "You'll always find me in the bathroom at parties" and "The gallery was boring so we took our clothes off"

Samuel's work address sociopolitical constructs and explores ideas around sexual repression as well as confronting our anxieties and desires, all while creating humour, through tension. Samuel graduated with a BA in Fine Art (Hons) from The Cass school of Art in London. His work has recently been featured in The Guardian and he's had several exhibitions throughout London. We had a chat with him to learn more about his work.

What made you decide to become an artist?

I’m not sure really. I suppose I don’t necessarily think that you decide to become an artist; it’s just something you are. But perhaps as you get older, you realise that being an artist is more than just being good at drawing (in my case). You begin to realise what things interest you and what you’d like your work to comment on and then ultimately decide to make art your profession.

Smoke some evil. Acrylic on Canvas. 72 x 119 cm.

Tell us more about your work. What inspires you?

A lot of the time it’s me and my life, or distorted version thereof. I like to create cheeky scenes, which are both humorous and quite disturbed. I like to teeter on both emotions; I think that’s always my main challenge, to get the balance just right.

I’m inspired by a lot of found imagery as well, these and photographs of my friends and family are usually the foundations for a piece.

What is your artistic process?

Usually an image will pop into my head, based on a funny situation or odd scenario. I’ll use this mental image for the structure of the piece, and then as the painting unfolds you begin to see the real story that you’re telling. The fun of the journey comes with the interesting qualities of the work you were never expecting.

What do you want to accomplish with your work? How are you doing this?

I’d like to entertain people and I’d like making people think. I also want to create work that people can relate to (in some bizarre way!) and I’ll do this by continuing to evolve my practise.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

Hmmm, good question. I think I’d like the ability to stop time. Or to know where things are!